Beef in red wine

Growing up on a working Farmhouse Bed & Breakfast while holding on to the apron strings of her mother, Catherine Fulvio (nee Byrne) was destined ...

Ingredients

400 g chopped tomatoes

350 ml red wine, medium bodied

1.5 tblsp flour

4 onions, chopped

2 tblsp olive oil

1 kg round steak in cubes and trimmed

1 tsp sugar

2 bay leaves

salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 anchovies

2 cloves garlic

1 lemon rind

1 large red chilli

Method

Fry the onions in the oil in a large sauce pan until they are soft. This will take approx seven to ten minutes. Then toss the beef in seasoned flour and separately brown the meat in a hot frying pan, taking care not to overload the pan as the meat will stew rather than brown.

Add the meat back to the saucepan and deglaze the frying pan with some red wine. Pour these juices over the meat and mix in the remaining red wine.

Bring the mixture to a boil, and then reduce it to a simmer for approximately ten minutes. Add in the chopped tomatoes along with the bay leaves, salt, pepper and sugar. Bring the sauce to the boil, cover with a lid and allow to cook gently for approx two hours until the meat is nice and tender. Occasionally, turn the meat over and check that it is not sticking to the bottom of the pan and add in a little hot water if needed.

And then we move on to the extra little Sicilian touch. Finely chop the anchovies, lemon rind, garlic and chilli. When the beef is ready, add in the minced seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste, and you have transformed the dish.

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